Steering gear for road machinery



Feb. 7, 1939. E. c. GLEDHILL ET AL 7 2,146,065

STEERING GEAR FOR ROAD MACHINERY Filed Dec. 18, 1937 Patented Feb. 7, 1939 PATENT OFFICE STEERING GEAR FOR ROAD MACHINERY Edward C. Gledhill and William- E. Gledhill, Galion, Ohio, assignors to The Gledhill Road Machinery Company, Galion, Ohio, a. corporation of Ohio Application December 18, 1937, Serial No. 180,644

4 Claims.

' Tothose familiar with the building and maintenance of roads,it is well known that in connection with tractor-drawn road graders, planers and the like, it is important and necessary in such operations for the road machine to be drawn not in direct tractive alinement with the tractor but to one side of the tractor and parallel therewith when the machine is working on the berm or ditch alongside of the road surface proper, and with this in mind this invention has for its primary object an improved steering gear for road machines which will be of simple construction and durable and of easy operation or manipulation by the operator of the road machine standing on the platform at the rear thereof.

Another object of the invention is a steering gear of this character, the parts of which are so constructed and arranged that they will practically lock or hold themselves in all adjusted positions without the necessity of employing independent locking means.

A still further object of the invention is a steering gear for road graders and the like, the

parts of which, while not liable to breakage or disarrangement, will at all times be readily accessible for any necessary repairs or adjustments.

With these and other objects in view, as will more fully appear as the description proceeds,

reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a road machine embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a part side elevation and part section thereof.

Fig. 3 is a detail view of the front axle arch.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

In the drawing, the reference numeral 10 o designates the frame beams of a road machine, II the front axle thereof with its ground wheels l2, and I3 the axle arch by which the front axle is pivotally connected to and underneath the front end of the framework through the instrumentality of the king bolt l4.

I5 designates the forwardly converging bars which comprise the draft pole or tongue of the machine, said pole being provided at its forward end with a clevis or eye It by which it may be coupled to a tractor, said pole being bolted or otherwise fastened at its rear end to a plate H which is mounted 'pivotally upon the king bolt M betweenthe cross bars l8 of the axle arch l3.

All of the hereinbefore mentioned parts may 5 be of entirely conventional type or construction and may be embodied in a road grader, planer, or other road machine, as they of themselves do not constitute any novel portion of our invention.

In carrying out our invention, we mount 5 upon' the draft pole l5 a longitudinally elongated casing IS in which a transversely extending bar 20 is received, said bar being pivotally mounted in the casing midway of its ends, as indicated at 2l, and pivotally connected to the 10 bar 20 at the ends thereof are the forward ends of rearwardly and downwardly extending rods 22, the rear ends of which are pivotally connected to and between bifurcated brackets 23 that are fastened to and carried by the upwardly divergl5 ing side members of the axle arch 13, as best illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3.

Pivotally carried by the transversely extending bar 20 to one side of the casing 19, is a nut 24 mounted to turn or swivel upon a vertical axis 20 25, and thus nut 24 receives the threaded portion of a longitudinally extending rod 26 which is mounted for a rotary movement about its longitudinal axis by means of a boxing 21 carried by the strap 28 that is mounted in the casing I9 25 at the rear end thereof, as best illustrated in Fig.

4, this boxing 21 being so mounted that it is permitted to have slight play about a. vertical axis.

The rear end of the threaded adjusting rod 30 26 is connected by a universal joint to the forward telescopically constructed member 29 of the operating shaft, the rear end of this shaft being designated 30 and being provided at its rear end with a hand wheel or crank 3| within 5 convenient reach of the operator standing upon the platform (not shown) at the rear of the machine.

In practical operation, when the operator of the road machine desires to steer the machine to a 40 position to the right or to the left of the tractor to which the machine is coupled, he will turn the operating shaft by means of the crank 3| in the desired direction, and this will result in an axial movement of the screw rod 26 which will swing 5 the transversely extending bar in the desired direction and through the connection of said bar with the axle, will move the axle to the desired adjusted position relative to the draft pole [5.

From the foregoing description in connection 50 with the accompanying drawing, it will be seen that we have provided a very simple and durable steering mechanism for road machines which will be efficient in operation and in which the parts are so constructed and arranged that they will be readily accessible for-any necessary repairs or adjustments. It will also be noted that in view of the movement of the axle in the desired direction is effected primarily by the threaded con- 5 nection between the longitudinally extending screw-threaded adjusting rod 26, and the nut 24 carried by the transversely extending bar 20, the parts will be securely maintained in adjusted position without the necessity of using pawls, ratchets, or similar locking means.

While the accompanying drawing illustrates what we believe to be the preferred embodiment of our invention, it is to be understood that we are not limited thereto and that various changes 5 may be made in the construction and arrangements and operations of the different parts without departing from the scope of the invention as claimed.

We claim:

1. In a road machine, the combination with the front axle and draft pole thereof, of a casing carried by the pole, a transversely extending bar pivotally mounted between its ends in said casing, a nut swivelly mounted on said bar, a screw rod 5 working through said nut, means carried by the pole for carrying said screw rod in a manner to permit the axial rotation thereof, and means for turning said rod.

2. In a road machine, the combination with a front axle and draft pole thereof, of a casing carried by said pole, a transversely extending bar pivotally mounted between its ends in said casing, a nut carried by said bar, a screw rod working in said nut, a strap mounted in said casing and holding said screw rod for a rotary movement about its longitudinal axis, means for connecting the bar with the axle for coincident movement,

. and means for turning said screw rod.

3. In a road machine, the combination with the front axle and draft pole thereof, of a casing carried by said pole, a transversely extending bar pivotally mounted between its ends in said casing and extending on opposite sides thereof and of the pole, rods connecting the ends of said bar with the axle, a nut swivelly mounted on said bar, a longitudinally extending screw rod working in said nut, a strap secured in the rear end of said casing and extending laterally therethrough, a boxing carried by said strap and in which the rear end of said screw rod is mounted for rotary movement, and an operating shaft extending rearwardly from and connected to the rear end of said screw rod, as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a road machine, the combination with the framework, front axle and draft pole thereof, of an axlearch upon which the front end of the framework is supported from the front axle, a king pin extending through said arch and pivi otally connecting it and the axle to the front end of the framework, a plate connected to'the rear end of the draft pole and pivotally mounted upon the king pin, a longitudinally extending casing carried by the draft pole, a transversely extendingbar pivotally mounted betweenits ends in said casing, a nut swivelly mounted upon said bar, rods connected at their forward ends to the ends of said bar and extending rearwardly and downwardly therefrom, the axle arch being provided with inwardly extending bifurcated brackets in which the rear ends of said rods are secured, a

screw rod working in said nut, a'transverselyex- V tending strap secured in said casing and provided with a boxing in which the rear end of said screw 7 rod is journaled for rotary movement, and a universally jointed operating shaft connected at its forward end to the rear end of said screw rod and extending rearwardly therefrom, as and for the purpose set forth.

EDWARD C. GLEDHIIL. WILLIAM E. GLEDHJLL. 

